Note-sheet winding and controlling mechanism for musical instruments.



PATENTED MAR. 28, 1905.

G. H. DAVIS.

NOTE SHEET WINDING AND OUNTROLLING MECHANISM FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1904.

UNITED STATES Patented March 28, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE HOTVLETT DAVIS, OF WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 785,? 99, dated March 28, 1905.

Application filed March 29, 1904. Serial No 200,633,

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE IiIowLET'r DA- vIs, a citizen of the United States, residing at WVest Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful lmprovements in Note-Sheet Minding and Controlling Mechanism for Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation to new and useful improvements in note-sheet winding mechanism for musical instruments, and more particularly to winding mechanisms embodying a delivery-roll from which the sheet is transferred to a take-up roll, said sheet traversing a note-selecting device arranged at a point between said rolls, and a continuously-operated driving means to rotate the take-up roll to transfer the sheet from the deli\ *eryroll thereto.

The principal object of this invention is to provide manually-operable means under the control of the operator which will permit the stopping of the music-sheet in its travel, so that any desired note, group of notes, or chord may be held stationary in operative relation to their corresponding note-selecting device or devices in order that the sounds given off by the sounding means controlled by said note-selecting devices may be held or sustained for any desired length of period, according to the will of the person operating the instrument.

A further object the invention is to provide means under control of the operator for disconnecting the take-up roll from its driving means, so that said roll may cease its rotation and become stationary without the necessity of stopping or changing the speed of the driving means.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of elements embodying a take-up roll, means for driving said roll to wind the note-sheet thereon, and manuallyoperable means under the control of the operator for stopping the rotation of said roll without stopping the driving mechanism.

In the annexed drawings, to be taken as a part of this specification, 1 have illustrated one construction capable of attaining the objects of the invention above referred to, but

to which 1 do not limit myself, inasmuch as the invention is capable of a wide range of mechanical variations to accomplish the result desired.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a structure embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section through the take-up roller and the means for opcratively connecting it to the driving means.

Referring to the drawings, the referencenumeral 1 designates end frames consisting of plates arranged in parallel vertical planes and constituting a music-holding frame, such as is commonly employed in electrical selfplaying instruments, as shown and described in numerous prior patents granted to me. J ournaled in these end plates 1 2 is a deliveryroll 3 and a take-up roll 4, the construction of said rolls and their particular arrangement being immaterial to the purposes of my present invention, any suitable structure and arrangement being applicable to the purpose at hand. It will be understood that the take-up roll forms a fixed part or element of the playing instrument and that the delivery-roll is removable from its bearings in order to permit the change of note-sheets.

Arranged between the delivery-roll and the take-up roll and also supported by the end plates of the music-holding frame is a noteselecting device, a part of which is shown in the drawings as consisting of a contact-roller over which the note-sheet passes in being transferred from the delivery-roll to the takeup roll. While 1 have shown this note-selecting device as consisting of a contact-roller, it is obvious that in the present invention said selecting device may be of any other form or construction adapted to be operated or controlled by a moving note-sheet and that in pneumatically-operated instruments or self-playing attachments a tracker-board would be substituted for the selecting device shown.

Rigidly secured to one of the end plates of the music-holding frame is a bracket 6 of any preferred construction, in which is mounted for rotation a driving-pulley 7, adapted to receive motion from a suitable motor and impart rotary motion to the take-up roll. This driving-pulley transmits its motion to the take-up roll through a suitable system of gearing, which may be of any approved form and which is capable of variation without departing from the gist of my invention as set forth. For the purposes of clearness and of illustrating a simple and satisfactory means of driving the take-up roll from said pulley I have adopted the following-described means, which is fully capable of accomplishing the purposes at hand: on the shaft 8 of the driving-pulley 7 is rigidly mounted a small gearwheel 9, which meshes with a larger gear 10, mounted on the other end of a stub-shaft 11, journaled in the end plate 1 of the musicholding frame, the opposite end of said shaft projecting through said plate and terminating within the frame, the saidinner end of the shaft carrying a small gear 12, which operates in a manner to be fully set forth hereinafter. 13 designates a shaft extending transversely of the music-holding frame, said shaft being journaled preferably in needlebearingslt, carried by the end plates of the frame in order to provide for the easy rotation of said shaft. Rigidly mounted upon this shaft 13 are the end flanges 15 16 of the take-up roll 1, the flange 15 being of any suitable construction; but the flange 16 embodying a structure designed to cooperate with means to be presently described in accomplishing an important object of the invention. This end flange 16 is constructed to constitute one member of a clutch or connection for connecting the take-up roll to the drivingpulley and is shown as being provided with an annular portion 17, formed with an exterior circumferential inclined friction-face 18, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. At its end nearest the driving-pulley 7 the shaft 13 is formed with a reduced threaded portion 19, upon which is mounted for adjustment lengthwise of the said shaft an abutment 20, which may be of any suitable construction and is employed to accomplish a purpose to more fully appear hereinafter. Slidably mounted on the shaft 13 and disposed between the abutment 20 and the end piece 16 of the take-up roll is a rotatable element consisting of a hub 21, carrying a gearwheel 22 and arranged and constructed to be capable of rotation independently of said shaft. This gear is formed with a clutch element comprising an annular laterally-projecting flange 23, having an interior-inclined engaging face 24, adapted to be set over and frictionallyengage the face 18 of the end piece 16, whereby the rotation of said gear will communicate rotary movement to the take-up roll.

The hub 21 referred to is, as stated before, slidably mounted upon the shaft 13 and has formed therein an annular pocket or channel 25, in which are arranged the coils of an expansion coil-spring 26, the respective ends of which engage the abutment 20 and the hub, the function of the spring being to force the rotatable element toward the end piece 26, so that the clutch-faces of said elements will be in engagement with each other. This spring, it will be seen, holds the clutch elements in operative rotation and maintains the element 22 normally in position to be positively engaged by the gear 12, heretofore mentioned, whereby the motion of the driving-pulley is transmitted to said element 22 and the take-up roll. The adjustability of the abutment 20 affords a simple and effective means for regulating the tension of the spring 26 and holds it in positive engagement with the hub 21.

The position of the element 22 during the operation of winding the sheet upon the takeup roll is normally that shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, and should it be desired to stop the winding of the sheet in order to hold or sustain any note or group of notes means is provided for shifting the element 22 on the shaft 13 to disengage the normally engaging clutch-faces and permit the stopping of the take-up roll, and consequently the movement of the sheet, the driving mechanism continu ing its operation unaffected by the stoppage of the take-up roll. The means for disengaging the rotatable element from the take-up roll consists of an operating-lever 27, fulcrumed at a point intermediate its ends to a suitable support on the frame, as at 28, the inner end of said lever being provided with a yoke 29, engaging an annular groove 30 in the hub 21, and the outer end of said lever ex tending to the front of the instrument, as at 31, at a point convenient and of ready access to the operator.

The operation of the embodiment of the invention as above described is as follows: The delivery roll, carrying a note sheet, having been placed in its bearings and the note-sheet connected to the take-up roll, the (having-pub. ley 7 is set in motion through any desired motor, and through the interposed gearing, consisting of the gears 9 10, shaft 11, gears 12 22, and the clutch elements, rotary motion will be imparted to the take-up roll to wind the note-sheet thereon, the passage of said sheet over the note-selecting device 5 operating to give ofl the sounds necessary to produce the composition depicted on the sheet. If at any time during the execution of the composition it should be desired by the operator to hold a note or chord for adetermined period, the operator swings the lever 27 on its fulcrum to move the element 22 laterally to throw the engaging clutch-faces out of operative relation, which instantly permits the stoppage of the sheet, so that any desired note may be held in operative relation to the selecting device to give off the sound controlled by that device for an indefinite period, the driving means continuing its operation uninterruptedly. The sheet having been held stationary a sufficient time by the operator exerting continued pressure on the lever to satisfactorily produce the efl'ect desired, the operator releases the lever and the spring 26 throws the clutch elements again into engagement to take up the rotation of the take-up roll.

WVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a note-sheetwinding mechanism for musical instruments, the combination with a take-up roll, a rotatable element adapted to engage the roll to rotate the same, means for driving said element, and manually-operable means under the control of the operator to move said element into and out of operative relation to the roll.

2. In a note-sheet-Winding mechanism for musical instruments, the combination with a take-up roll, of a rotatable element normally engaging said roll to impart rotation thereto, said element being movable toward and away from the roll,'means to maintain the element in engagement with the roll, manually-operable means under the control of the operator to move the element out of engagement with the roll and means to drive the element.

3. 1n note-sheet-winding mechanism for musical instruments, the combination with a take-up roll having end flanges one of which is provided with a clutch element, a rotatable element loosely mounted on the shaft of the take-up roll and having a clutch element cooperating with the aforesaid clutch element, means to drive the rotatable element, and manually-operable means under the control of the operator for throwing the clutch elements out of engagement without stopping the driving means for the rotatable element.

at. In note-sheet-winding mechanism for musical instruments, the combination with a take-up roll having end flanges one of which is provided with a clutch element, a gear loosely mounted on the shaft of the take-up roll and provided with a clutch element cooperating with the corresponding element on the take-up roll, means for driving the said gear, and manually-operable means under the control of the operator for disengaging the clutch elements without interfering with the said driving means.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE HOWLET'I DAVIS.

\Vitnesses:

SPENCER Ur. Avims, \V M. \VAL'roX. 

